Chapter 8.

Boy-Who-Lived in France.

Hermione almost choked on the piece of toast she was forcing herself to eat when she read the headline. "Ron!" she hissed.

He glanced up at her disinterestedly. He was taking Harry's disappearance even harder than Hermione was to the point he barely spoke to anyone but her. For some reason he'd gotten the idea in his head that he could somehow have prevented it, but Hermione knew that Sirius Black wouldn't be stopped by the likes of almost-fourteen-year-old Ronald Weasley.

She pushed the newspaper in front of him. "Look," she whispered, not wanting to become the centre of attention when everyone realised what was happening.

Ron skimmed the article. "Black took him to France," he said with an interest he hadn't even shown for Quidditch recently.

"Not only that," Hermione said, pointing to a particular paragraph. "Harry was spotted with another man, which means he's got an accompice. Do you remember Halloween, when the Fat Lady's portrait was slashed?"

Ron gaped at her. "Of course I remember that. Hard to forget isn't it?"

"But do you remember what we overheard? Between Snape and Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione was getting excited now, sure she was onto something.

"Just spit it out, will you," Ron said in annoyance.

"Snape said, 'It seems almost impossible that Black could have entered the school without inside help.' Don't you see. He was right. Someone from inside the school was helping him all along. He also said something about warning Professor Dumbledore not to appoint someone. That was his exact word: appoint. That means he suspected a member of staff here. Oh!"

"What?" Ron said, beginning to get caught up in her enthusiasm.

"It has to be Professor Lupin. The only other new appointment is Hagrid and we know he would never... That's how Black got into the school, Lupin helped him."

Ron glanced up at the head table. "He's missing again today and he wasn't in class yesterday."

Hermione gestured emphatically at the paper. "That's because he was helping Black get Harry to France. Oh, but wait..."

"Now what?" Ron said in exasperation.

"Last night was... but maybe he's not as ill as he pretends to be around the..." Hermione was at a loss. She couldn't reveal what she suspected about Professor Lupin to Ron, just in case she was wrong and he was innocent. She had to speak to Dumbledore. Another look at the head table showed that he, too, was missing as he had been for several days. Professor McGonagall had told them he was out helping in the search. There was nothing else for it. If Lupin came back they would just have to watch for him doing anyhting suspicious. If he didn't come back then they would know for certain and Hermione could tell anyone she liked what he had done.

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Sirius tenderly mopped the sweat from Harry's forehead. He'd managed to mend the bones both in his arm and Harry's ribs, but he was no Madame Pomfrey and he knew it wasn't a good job. There would be a lot of residual soreness and he had no idea how to fix the bruises he could see on Harry's jaw and neck. They would have to wait until a proper healer could look him over. Even in his unconsciousness Harry shivered from the after effects of the Cruciatus.

Peter was still in one of his robe pockets, maybe being suffocated by all the shrunken clothes piled on top of him, but as Sirius looked upon the agonised face of his godson he couldn't bring himself to care. Peter had a lot to answer for. His only concern right now, besides Harry, was making sure Peter did answer for it. Absently, his gaze never leaving his contemplation of Harry, he conjured a steel cage. He plunged one hand into the robe pocket, unceremoniously pulling the rat out by it's tail, a few articles of clothing sticking to it, and dumped it inside. He used the most complicated charms he could remember to make sure Peter couldn't get out, even if he transformed.

He was starting to worry about what he was going to say to Harry when he awoke. Whatever it was it would have to be convincing and totally honest, the last thing Hary needed right now was someone lying to him, which meant he would have to touch on some sensitive topics. Sirius squared his shoulders. He could do it and would, for Harry and... oh no! Harry was stirring.

Sirius panicked and transformed. His dog form had become his retreat, his way of hiding from the world and he used it now without thinking.

Harry whimpered slightly as he awoke, as though he was expecting to feel the Cruciatus once again. His eyes fluttered open, revealing the bright green that was so achingly familiar and he groaned. His head rolled first to one side and then the other before he drew in a deep breath and pushed himself into a sitting position.

His sleep filled eyes found Sirius and he gasped. His head whipped around, looking for Peter, but didn't find him. He looked at Sirius once more. "Are you the dog I found in London?"

Sirius found it amusing that Harry was talking to a dog, even though he was that dog. He nodded his head hugely, a strange gesture on a canine, but it got his point across.

"How did you get here?" Harry murmured, reaching out a hand to stroke Sirius' fur covered neck. "It's miles and miles away." Even as he petted Sirius' head his eyes were darting about for any sign of his captor. He was nervous, Sirius could practically smell it on him, he would need reassurance.

"Do you know where Wormtail is?" Harry asked suddenly. Of course, Sirius couldn't answer in his present form. "He doesn't normally leave me alone for long. Do you think we can get out of here before he comes back?" Harry shook his head. "Why am I talking to a dog?"

Sirius couldn't help the snorty sound that left his nose. Had he really only just noticed that?

"Think that's funny do you?" Harry asked. He tried to stand up, stumbled on the first attempt and then tried again. This time he made it to his feet. Sirius stayed as close as possible in case he fell.

"I guess you're coming with me," Harry murmured. "That's good, I could use the company. I should tell you, I have no idea how I'm going to get back to England."

Sirius licked his hand, trying to comfort him. He hoped Harry wasn't really going to try and leave right now. He probably wouldn't make it outside of the barn they were hiding in.

Harry took a few tottering steps before he faltered and glanced at Sirius. He sank back to his knees. "I'm so tired," he said. "What the Hell was that curse he used on me?"

Sirius could have told him if he'd been human, instead he settled for nudging Harry's shoulder with his nose, trying to tell him to lie back down in the hay.

"I can't," Harry said pathetically. "I've got to... Wait!" His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Back in London, Wormtail called you Padfoot. Like on the Marauder's Map. Are you an animagus too? Are you working with him? Who are you?"

Harry's voice was rising with each progressive question and Sirius knew he would need to answer him now before he got hysterical or panicked. He transformed back into his human body, staring at his godson apprehensively.

Harry's eyes went impossibly wide. "No way."

"Harry," Sirius said softly, stepping back to give Harry some space. "Please don't be scared. I don't want to hurt you."

"You don't?" Harry said, his voice going high with approaching hysteria.

"Oh, I could never, never hurt you," Sirius said emphatically. "I gave your parents my word I would always protect you."

Harry dropped back into the hay. It seemed that had startled him enough to calm him down slightly.

"There are some things you need to know," Sirius said gently. "And then I'm going to make sure you get back to school and that Peter is punished for hurting you."

Harry looked up at him, his expressive green eyes innocent and confused. "Peter. Is that his real name?"

"Peter Pettigrew," Sirius confirmed, waving one hand at the cage in the corner. "Wormtail. The rat."

Harry blinked and his eyes followed Sirius' hand. "Peter Pettigrew is dead. You killed him," he said in a hard voice.

"I only wish that I had," Sirius said. "It would have saved you so much pain."

Harry scrubbed at his face with both hands. "I don't understand," he admitted.

Sirius reached out one hand. "I'm going to sit down," he said, not wanting to startle Harry by moving too quickly. "I promise you I'm not going to do anything to hurt you."

Harry studied him intently before nodding his acceptance. "I overheard the Minister and the Professors talking," he said slowly. "They said Pettigrew tracked you down and you blew up the street, killing him and twelve muggles."

"That's the story," Sirius agreed. "What else did they say?"

"That you were working for Voldemort," Harry told him, impressing Sirius by using the name. "That you were my parents secret keeper and you betrayed them." Harry seemed to be having a hard time reconciling the image of the man who was responsible for his parents death with the Sirius Black who sat before him, having possibly saved his life.

Sirius nodded thoughtfully.

"How could you do it?" Harry demanded, his voice rising again. "They were your friends and you just gave them up as if they didn't mean anything."

Sirius said nothing. He couldn't deny it. In a way that was exactly what he had done. He'd turned their safety over to Peter, the weakest one of the group.

"Do you know what I hear when the Dementors come near me?" Harry asked, his voice nearly breaking. "I hear mum screaming for him to kill her instead of me and I hear her die. AND THAT'S YOUR FAULT!"

"I don't deny that it is," Sirius said quietly, near tears himself. How could Harry remember that? Was that the only memory he had of Lily? "But not in the way that you think."

"YOU AS GOOD AS KILLED THEM YOURSELF." Harry gasped suddenly, one hand flying to his recently repaired ribs.

Sirius was by his side in an instant. "Breathe slowly," he said, placing one hand over Harry's. "My healing spells have never really been up to par, that was always Moony's forte. I did the best I could, but those ribs will still be a little tender. It should tide you over until we can get you back to Hogwarts. In the meantime take it easy, all that shouting probably didn't do you any favours."

Harry was staring at him through confused and suspicious eyes. "Why do you care?" he said through clenched teeth.

Sirius dropped his hand and backed off a little to give Harry some space, suddenly remembering that Harry was still just a scared thirteen year old at the mercy of someone he thought to be a murderer.

"Please, Harry. You have every right to be angry with me, but you don't know all the facts. Will you let me explain?"

Harry narrowed his eyes thoughtfully while Sirius waited with bated breath. Finally he nodded.

Sirius let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. "Thank you." He leaned back slightly in the hay, resting his weight on his arms in a relaxed position, more to put Harry at ease than from any comfort he himself derived from it. A thought occurred to him and he dragged the wand out of his pocket and threw it at Harry's feet. Startled green eyes glanced up at him and Sirius knew he'd won points with that gesture.

"Yours, I suppose. Peter's was left on the street the day I supposedly killed him. You hang on to it until you decide if I'm trustworthy or not."

Harry grasped the wand tightly, not pointing it at Sirius, but not putting it away either.

"We switched," Sirius began. "I was supposed to be your parents secret keeper, but I convinced James to switch to Peter. I was the obvious target and I knew Voldemort would send his Death Eaters after me. I thought that I could be the decoy, they would chase after me, leaving Peter perfectly safe and even if they caught me I couldn't give up the secret. It seemed like the perfect plan.

"We'd known there was a spy amongst us. I thought it was Moony, almost had Prongs convinced as well, but not Lily. Your mother was so sure he'd never betray us. We should have listened to her. If we had we could have used him as the secret keeper and all this never would have happened." Sirius glanced up to see that Harry was hanging on his every word. "We should have known it was Peter, he always was the weak link."

"That Halloween I had a feeling something was wrong so I went to check on Wormtail. He was gone, no sign of a struggle and I knew, I just knew that we'd been had. I went straight to Godric's Hollow, where your parents lived, but I was too late. Voldemort had already killed them. Hagrid was there, had just pulled you out of the ruins and I tried to get him to give you to me, but he insisted Dumbledore had ordered him not to. Maybe if he had just trusted me I wouldn't have done the most idiotic thing I could think of." Sirius trailed off. His mind was stuck on that night twelve years ago, feeling the same anguish as if it had happened only yesterday and the same burning need for revenge.

"What did you do?" Harry asked tentatively and Sirius realised that he hadn't spoken for several minutes. He drew in a deep breath. Now was not the time to break down.

"I went after Peter," he said simply. "It took me a couple of days, but I finally tracked him down on a muggle street. He started shouting about how I had betrayed Lily and James and then weak little Peter surprised me. He blew up the street with the wand behind his back and transformed. Cut off his own finger and left it behind with his wand while he disappeared down a sewer.

"I lost it at that point. Not really sure what happened next until they threw me in with the Dementors. I do know for certain that I never had a trial, never had a chance to tell then what really happened. Voldemort had just been defeated and everyone wanted it over with. I was a reminder of darker times, so they just locked me away."

He waved a hand over to the cage that still housed an unconscious rat. "Peter insinuated himself in with the Weasley family, perfectly situated to hear even the slightest rumour about Voldemort. He must have been so happy when you ended up in the same dormitory as one of their kids and then he must have panicked after I got in and woke up that boy which is when he decided to take you."

Harry nodded, having already figured out that last part himself. "How did you escape?"

"My animagus form, allowed me to stay sane in Azkaban. I probably could have escaped earlier, but I didn't see the point. As far as I knew you were safe and well and part of me felt that I deserved the punishment for getting my best friend killed. It wasn't until I saw that newspaper article with the Weasley family that I knew I had to escape."

"Why?" All Harry's nervousness seemed forgotten now as he was swept up in the story.

"Wormtail was there sitting on your friends shoulder. I recognised him well enough from all the times I'd seen him transform and he was missing a toe. The article said he was at Hogwarts, where you were and I... I couldn't let him hurt you.

"I was thin enough to slip through the bars as a dog and then it was a simple case of swimming to shore and running up country. I made one stop. I wanted to see you."

"That was you," Harry breathed.

Sirius grinned. "Quite a ruckus you caused that night," he said approvingly. "Blowing your aunt up. Don't think we ever tried anything like that."

"We? The Marauders?"

"Yeah," Sirius let his mind drift back to happier times. "Hey, how do you know about that? Did Moony tell you?"

Harry shook his head. "I've got the map. He told me to call him Wormtail and I recognised the name and he called you Padfoot. I don't know who Prongs and Moony are though."

"Your Dad was Prongs, turned into a huge stag when he transformed."

"My Dad was an animagus? Really?" Harry seemed keen to hear anything about his parents.

"Oh yeah! He was the first of us to work it out actually. James was amazing at Transfiguration." Sirius stopped himself from saying anything more in favour of studying Harry. "You believe me."

Harry half smiled at him. "I don't know why, but even when you were a dog I just felt like I could trust you and, well, what you told me, it makes sense, so yes, I believe you."

Sirius worked his way through that stumbling sentence and grinned. "I'm glad, kiddo."

Harry's answering grin was blinding. "So what about Moony? What kind of creature gets that nickname?"

"Actually Moony's the only non-animagus Marauder," Sirius replied, not sure how much he should say. Oh well, he wasn't about to start holding things back now. "He's a werewolf."

"Oh." Harry didn't seem too perturbed by that which Sirius took as a good sign. He probably wasn't as concerned as he would have been if he'd been raised by wizards.

"His name is Remus."

Harry's eyes flew wide open. "You mean Remus Lupin? Our Defense teacher? He was a Marauder?"

Sirius laughed, a barking noise reminiscent of his other form. "Yup. He's the respectable one. I can't believe one of us turned out t be so... responsible." Sirius said the last word with a shudder.

"So why did you become animaguses," he asked avidly.

"At the risk of sounding professorial myself, it's animagi." Sirius settled back to tell his godson a tale about three boys who broke every rule they could think of to be able to help out their friend, who just happened to be a werewolf. By the time he had finished Harry had drifted off to sleep.

Sirius smiled. For the first time in twelve years he felt happy. He took the wand from the ground where Harry had left it and conjured a thick blanket which he placed over the sleeping boy and then tucked the wand back in Harry's hand. Still smiling he leaned against the wall and watched Harry sleep. He knew the situation could never last, but for now he was content.

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When Harry awoke the first thing he was aware of was the smell of hay in his nostrils. He lay there, feeling warm and almost comfortable for the first time since the previous Friday when he'd been taken from Gryffindor tower. How long ago had that been now? They'd spent the first day hiding in that shack near Hogwarts and that night they'd slept in the hotel. So it was Sunday morning he'd run away from Wormtail – Peter – and seen Sirius for the first time. The rest of Sunday they'd been in the warehouse while Wormtail used that curse on him for the first time. So that meant that yesterday must have been Monday, the day he'd been rescued by the man he thought wanted to kill him after traversing the channel and so today was Tuesday, the day his life changed forever, for it was in the early hours of this morning that Sirius had told him everything.

He'd been gone for over three days! Ron and Hermione were probably going crazy with worry. Somehow he doubted they'd be getting back today, but he knew the jouney must begin soon, Sirius had promised he'd get him back as soon as possible.

Harry held on to his ribs as he sat up, hoping to alleviate the pain he still felt. He smiled slightly. Sirius was propped up against the wall, his chest rising and falling gently as he slept. Harry wondered at how he could feel so safe with a man whom he believed was out to get him just a day before. He took the opportunity to really look at Sirius and came to the conclusion that the man was exhausted. He'd probably been very handsome as a boy, but years in prison and being exposed to Dementors had left his face looking wasted and worn out. His black hair was lank and matted through lack of care and his frame was far too skinny to be healthy.

Well that would change, Harry decided. Fudge had said that Sirius was his godfather, although dogfather might be more appropriate and that meant that if Sirius wanted they could live together. Harry was a fairly good cook, he'd soon get Sirius fattened up although that thought made him sound like Mrs Weasley. Sirius would be happy.

Unless Sirius would be happier without him. Harry was assuming an awful lot, what if Sirius just wanted to get back to the life he'd had before Azkaban? Harry couldn't blame him, after all he'd never asked to be lumped with a teenager.

Harry's worried thoughts were interrupted by Sirius yawning widely and stretching. "Morning kiddo," he said in a tired voice.

"Morning," Harry said in a falsely bright voice, not allowing himself to speak aloud the doubts he was now having.

"What's a matter?" Sirius said groggily. "You in pain?"

Harry shook his head. "Not too much."

"Good. We've got a bit of a trip ahead of us."

Harry looked down into his lap and started playing with the hem of his shirt. He wanted to ask Sirius if they would live together, but was too scared of the answer. "What's the plan?"

"We can't go back through the tunnel," Sirius said thoughtfully. "They probably won't be watching it anymore, but it's pretty hard to sneak in and we don't have any muggle currency and I refuse to use the Imperious curse."

"Is that the one that Wormtail used to make people do what he wanted?"

Sirius nodded.

"Why didn't he just use it on me?" Harry asked. That had been bothering him ever since he'd worked out what the curse did.

"Peter's never been very powerful," Sirius told him. "And power's a key point to that kind of curse. He could make it work on muggles, but I'd bet he couldn't control a wizard, especially one who's stronger than him."

"But I'm not-"

"If your parents are anything to go by you are," Sirius said. "And from what I've seen they'd be right proud of you."

Harry blushed and went back to playing with his shirt hem.

"How about a ferry ride?" Sirius asked him.

Harry looked up, excitement shining through his eyes. "You mean, like, on the ocean?" He'd never seen the ocean before.

"Yeah," Sirius grinned, picking up on his enthusiasm for the idea. "It's be fairly easy for a dog to sneak on, especially if I use a notice me not charm and you can hide under the invisibility cloak. It's way better than sitting on a stuffy old train."

Harry laughed. "That sounds amazing."

"You'll have to carry Peter." Sirius' eyes lit up. "You know, he's terrified of water. We could drop him over the side."

Harry froze. "Don't you need him alive? I mean, if you're going to prove you're innocent you'll need proof."

Sirius rested his chin on his hand and studied Harry. "I think it's too late for that. Maybe if Peter had left you alone things would have worked out differently, but they're not about to give me a chance to tell them it wasn't me. They'll shoot first and stuff me in Azkaban, if I even make it that far. I expect I'll just get the kiss."

Harry shuddered. "What if we could make them listen?"

Sirius sighed. "I wish we could, but from what I've been reading in the papers I think Fudge would rather sweep this whole thing under the rug rather than admit his precious Ministry made a mistake all those years ago."

"So you'll drop me off at Hogwarts and just go? We'll never see each other again." Harry tried not to look thouroughly dejected.

"We can write to each other," Sirius promised, with an attempt to appear upbeat. "And who knows, maybe we'll get lucky."

Harry looked away. "They said you were my godfather. I guess I thought that..." Harry found he couldn't finsh that sentence.

"Harry, look at me," Sirius said firmly, forcing Harry's gaze back to him. "There is nothing I want more than to have you live with me. If I could think of a way..."

"It's alright," Harry said hurriedly. "I understand." This is what you got for getting your hopes up. After years of the Dursleys throwing those hopes back in his face Harry thought he should be used to it by now, but it still hurt.

Sirius didn't apear to know what to say. "We should make a start," he said finally. "We've got a way to go and I don't want to push you too hard when you're not at full strength."

"I'm OK," Harry insisted and stood up as if to prove it. "Much better than earlier."

"Great." As Sirius stood he grabbed the nearby cage and passed it to Harry. He quickly threw the invisibility cloak over him. That way all anyone looking for Harry would see was a stray dog. He transformed easily and led the way out of the barn.

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A/N: Well there you go, chapter 8. The first scene contains a direct quote from POA and most of you will be familiar with a lot of what Sirius told Harry.

I added the paragraph where Harry works out how long he's been away from Hogwarts because it was starting to confuse me and I'm writing it so I wanted to clarify that.

Hope you enjoyed it. As always please review and let me know what you think.

Anyone wishing to join my Yahoo! Group can do so by clicking the link on my profile.

Nats.

P.S. Two chapters to go!